Boiled in Lead at the Parkway Theater (March 21, 2026)

It was hard to believe a fresh eight inches of snow fell the weekend before, especially with the snow completely gone as people barbecued and played basketball at Lake Hiawatha Park.  Even the commercial hub of 48th and Chicago had sprung to life with a line stretching outside the Pumphouse Creamery and the garage door at Town Hall Tap completely retracted.  Even the crowd, gathering outside the Parkway Theater, waited to go in for it was known that the 75-degree weather would not be repeated anytime soon.  

It was going to be an evening of Irish music, but first a singing cowboy stepped on the stage.  

Pop Wagner is a guitarist, fiddler, poet and cinch maker in the country western tradition.  He has been traveling the world since 1968 and has played with Bob Bovee, The Hampden Rounders, Butch Thompson and the Twin City Playboys.  Currently he can be seen at the 311 Club playing the fourth Monday of every month with the Honky Tonk Ranch.  

With a low-key delivery and a mustache that would make Sam Elliott’s proud, Wagner told stories, recited poems and noodled his way through songs like “Grizzly Bear” and “On the Banks of the Old Pontchartrain.”  He also told a great story about a friend’s beat-up car that sounded like a coffee grinder, which he turned into a song, a song that the great Greg Brown thought was actually about coffee.  So the name changed to “Coffee’s Ready.”

A highlight was the “Impressionists 2-Step,” a song about the French Masters, a song in which Wagner lifted the Tate Museum’s notes on Claude Monet’s Waterlilies for the chorus.

After a brief intermission, Boiled in Lead took the stage but refrained from playing as the The Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band marched their way to the front of the stage to play a few traditional Irish folk songs.  They have performed with the Chieftains, Green Day, Blink-182 and Rod Stewart as well as locally whenever an Irish pipe band is needed.  We luckily caught them at The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in St. Paul in 2025 and they are easy to pick out with their distinctive Irish uniforms.  

As the pipe band played their way out, the headliner started off with their own blend of traditional Irish music and American punk with songs like “Army (Dream Song) and “Go! Move! Shift!”  

A precursor to Gogol Bordello who we recently saw in February, Boiled in Lead has the distinction of being the longest running Celtic punk band in America.  They formed in 1983 with their first album Bold Ned, and 43 years later only one member remains, Drew Miller on bass and the theremin.  Miller was joined on stage by Todd Menton on guitar, the tenpenny whistle and bodhrán, Morris Engel on the drums and glockenspiel, and the newest addition to the group, Haley Olson on violin, who replaced David Stenshoel who passed away in 2021.

Forty plus years is a long time for anything let alone a Celtic punk band, but what surprised me was how fresh and alive the quartet sounded.  Maybe an argument can be made to welcome new talent.  It was apparent that Olson brought a unique perspective that was welcomed by the other members of their band.  

The reason for the show was a release party for their latest album King of the Dogwoods.  Miller said they would play the whole album from start to finish, but they cleverly weaved the songs between others from their musical canon as well as traditional Irish folk songs.  (After all, St. Patrick’s Day.)

There were also songs fused with Cajun “Je T’aime, Helena” and Gypsy “Adje Jano” sentiments.  Then there was the funny, off-kilter “Winifer Odd” sung by Olson.  

Overall, it was a great night of music from a group of musicians that deftly moved from one musical tradition to another.  Luckily, they saved the best for last with “Fast Reels” a lightning-quick Irish jig fueled with a punk spirit.

Boiled In Lead at Parkway Theater (03/21/2026)